The Long Road
by Aelia Douglass
Summary: Katla has agreed to marry Argis, but can she keep her hands off him long enough to get to the altar? It's going to be a long carriage ride to Riften.


Katla squirms in her seat, and her gaze is once more drawn to her betrothed, sitting on the bench opposite her. She wants to tear his clothes off and take advantage of him. His good eye catches hers and the heat in his gaze tells her that the feeling is mutual. Frustrated, she tightens her fists and looks away.

Their bags are carefully packed, and they sit on the floor between them. The blanket she'd so carefully rolled and tucked into their bags poked out the top, and it made her think of precisely what they could be doing on that blanket. Her face flushes, and she looks away from that, too.

It's been a week since Katla agreed to marry Argis, and every waking moment has been spent together. They might have departed faster but for their "bad habit" of tumbling into each other's arms and making love. It had slowed down their preparations to the point that they had finally forced themselves to prepare separately. Though difficult, it had been a necessity if they wanted to ever marry.

Again Katla's gaze flicks over to Argis. He's still watching her, a heat in his gaze that raises goosebumps upon her flesh. She doesn't think about the consequences of her actions when she moves from one side of the cart to the other, planting herself in her beloved's lap and kissing him gently. Argis' groan was loud enough to draw the attention of the carriage driver, he glances back at them, and Katla stares him down, _daring_ him to say a word.

He simply smirks at her, and turns away again.

"There's about ten miles before the nearest town." The words drift back over his shoulder, but he very deliberately does not look at them. It makes Katla wonder just how often this happens. The roads are long and cold, and often nearly deserted but for the carriage, so perhaps they are not the first couple to consummate their pending marriage on the road to Riften.

But by the nine, they _will_ be the most memorable, she vows.

Argis is still beneath her, his gaze stricken. He does not want to make a spectacle of their relationship, she imagines. Or perhaps he feels that he is somehow unworthy of her, and he wants to protect her reputation. Regardless of whatever is stopping him from participating, she intends to wear him down until it no longer matters.

She starts by kissing the corner of his mouth and wrapping one arm over his broad shoulders. With her other hand, she caresses his tattooed cheek, tracing the lines in a spiral and then back along his jaw. She feels it tense as he deliberately holds himself back. She kisses the scar on his cheek, then brings her lips close to his ear.

"What's wrong?" Her voice is a soft whisper, just loud enough for him to hear over the carriage.

"You deserve better," His voice is as tense as his body.

"I couldn't do better than you," she won't argue with him over this. It will ruin what could otherwise be a very pleasant afternoon. She's not even really sure whether he means himself or this carriage, and she doesn't care. She wants _him_ and she wants him _here_in the woods, in this carriage, on this surprisingly sunny and warm day.

He's wearing light leather armor instead of the ebony armor she'd made for him last time she was at Warmaiden's. She'd smithed it, and she'd enchanted it, and then she'd given it to him as though it was just something for a housecarl. But it wan't 'just something.' It had been more than that. It had been about protecting the man she loved.

Not that either of them had admitted that at the time.

But now, she knows that he's got the armor safely stowed, and he's wearing the leather as a concession to the warmth of the day, and the fact that the carriage is safe. Somehow, the carriages of Skyrim are always safe.

Katla is glad for this, because she is about to divest him of even the light armor he's wearing. She loves removing his armor a piece at a time, teasing him and drawing it out and lavishing kisses each body part as she reveals it.

"Katla," his voice is a rough sigh as she finishes stripping a gauntlet from his arm and kisses his palm. She brings his hand up and presses her cheek against the calloused flesh. His gaze is torn, and his resolve is wavering, she can see it in his face, and feel it the set of his body.

She smiles and shifts so she is straddling him and can work effectively at unfastening his clothing. She feels his hand settle on her hip, but it doesn't move. She smiles at him, knowing that this latest crack in his resolve is a step in the right direction.

Soon, he will be as interested in getting her naked as she is in baring him right now.

Soon.

Katla has learned that she loves touching Argis. She loves the way he responds to her, the noises he makes and the way he moves. Right now, his armor is preventing her from touching him, which means it needs to go.

Her hands are efficient, her face determined as she begins working on the buckles of his breastplate. The armor is new enough that the buckles stick, and the pins stick in the holes. And then it is off, dropped to the floorboards behind her, and all that is between her and his bare chest is a thin layer of linen.

She tugs it up, out of his trousers, so she can stroke the flat planes of his belly and chest. He has worked hard for his skill, and his body shows it. He is nearing thirty, which is not such an old age except for a warrior. For many it is remarkable if they pass the age of twenty-five.

But this is Argis. _Her_ Argis, she realizes with relish. And he has survived this long for her. She is sure of hands have pulled the white linen up, and her fingers are tracing the lines of muscle along his torso, slowly winding their way up until they stroke his shoulders.

His eyes are closed, his head tilted back, resting against the high side of the cart. She feels the fingers in the hand he is resting on her hip clenching against her, and knows that he is using all his self control to try to resist her.

She removes her hands from his chest reluctantly. It is only when Argis lets out a deep sigh that she realizes that he has been holding his breath. She smiles, and lets him think it is a reprieve for a moment before she catches up his other arm and begins removing the other gauntlet.

She kisses that bare palm as well.

And then she brings his hands to her breasts.

She is wearing a simple peasant dress with a low neckline. Not because she was planning on seducing her husband-to-be, but because it is nice to feel girly once in a while, and she knows Argis will keep her safe. With the weather uncharacteristically nice for Skyrim, she has to take advantage of it somehow, and this lightweight dress seemed like the thing to wear. Now she is glad she chose it.

She wonders whether he realizes he is kneading her breasts, whether he's deliberately teasing her, or whether it is a reaction to her hands once more finding his bare belly and stroking that tender skin.

It doesn't matter. Either way, it's a delicious sensation. She makes a small noise, and his eyes snap open. Their gazes lock, he licks his lips, and she can feel the resistance draining out of him.

And then his lips are on hers, and her arms are wrapped around his neck as she kisses him. He is fussing with the laces on her bodice, struggling with the unfamiliar clothing. She laughs, and pushes his hands away, letting them settle on her hips once more.

"In time, my love." Katla loves the way he looks at her when she calls him that. "Right now, I believe you are wearing _far_ too much."

The noise Argis makes is one of happy frustration. He lets her move, his eyes mere slits as he watches her. She leans forward just enough for him to easily look down her bodice as she slides back along his legs so she can reach his belt. It doesn't take long to get the buckle undone, and it takes even less time to unlace his trousers. Argis lifts his hips for her a bit as she tugs them down, freeing his erection from the fabric that had thus far contained it. He makes a noise, and Katla can't help smiling at him in response.

She is straddling him once more, her knees resting on the bench beside his thighs. Her fingers are tracing along his belly once more, only occasionally brushing against his erection as if by accident. Katla bites her lip, willing herself to draw this out, but freezes when she feels his hand upon her ankle. He works his way under her skirts determinedly, and Katla shifts with him, feeling his hand slide up her calf beneath the generously cut fabric. He just teases the ticklish spot at the back of her knee for a moment before his hand is skimming up her thigh, lifting the skirts away, so with each inch of skin he touches, there is less fabric between them.

When Argis' hand reaches her hip, he discovers that Katla has left off her smalls this day. He makes a noise and she has to stifle a giggle at the way his erection twitches against her belly. She may not have worn the _dress_ to seduce him, but she did this because she had hoped for an opportunity much like this.

His movements are deliberate and controlled as he eases her skirts out from between them, shifting the voluminous fabric so it falls around the both of them. Katla uses his shoulders to keep herself steady. Argis glances at her face, a small smirk teases the corners of his lips upward, and she finds herself impulsively kissing him, her lips pressing against his. He cradles her against himself, kissing her back with all of the passion and heat she has been kindling between them. He is cradling the back of her head in one of his hands, and she melts against him.

"Katla," he sighs when he breaks their kiss for air. His eyes are on her face once more, his gaze full of what she has learned to recognize as love. She is as sure of his love for her as she is of the sun rising in the sky each day. And she is just as sure of her own love for him. She feels it, deep in her core, she feels it with the joy that his very presence causes.

His hand slides down the side of her neck, and works the top of her bodice down so he can touch her bare skin. She gasps a little when he brings his lips to her, and captures one nipple. He teases it with his tongue and teeth, and she's trying not to groan. He switches his attention to the other breast, teasing this nipple as well, and Katla is struggling to not cry out in pleasure. Her breasts have always been sensitive, and Argis uses this for both their pleasure, drawing out the moment and making her squirm against him.

When he pulls back, her skin is flushed and she is breathing hard. His hands are steadying her; cupping her ass through the fabric, holding her close. And then he's moving again and Katla is just trying to keep up. She had hoped to tease Argis, to incite his adventurous side to come and play, she had not anticipated the intensity of his gaze, the possessiveness of his touch. It is something new, different from anything she's experienced with him so far, and she knows she is going to enjoy every moment.

Katla may have started this, but now that Argis is participating, she's quickly losing control of the situation. And really, that's what she's wanted all along. She wants her betrothed to have as much fun as she does. She wants him to participate, to show her how much he wants her, too.

Not that she doubts that he wants her.

But it's always nice to be reminded.

His eyes are locked on hers as he catches her hips and presses her down onto him. She's already wet and aching, and it's the better than she remembers as she feels him fill her. His eyes flutter shut and his lips twitch into a small smile. Katla kisses the corner of his smile and then begins moving on him. And the novelty of this, the very public setting of their tryst has them both on edge.

Her thighs squeeze him as she shifts herself, moving up and down on his cock. And he's gasping and making small noises of pleasure. She can tell from the tension in his body that he's trying to hold himself back. His hands are on her hips, and she can feel them tensing and relaxing as she moves. He's focusing so hard on it that he's squeezed his eyes tight, and he can't even open them to look at her.

Her lips trace his tattoo as she rides him. She is breathing hard, nearly panting, but she needs to touch him, needs to kiss him. And he is making low noises. She kisses her way down to his neck, and there she bites him. Gently. Not so hard as to break skin, but hard enough that he can feel it. And then he's holding her close and growling her name in her ear, and she feels him buck as he orgasms.

For the moment, it is enough.

She leans forward, resting herself against him, just enjoying the moment.

But he's noticed that she hasn't come for him, and he's not going to let it stand. As his breath steadies, he adjusts her position so he can touch her. And with the precision that only comes from knowing someone else's body near as well as your own, he is touching her in all the right places. Stroking and rubbing and pinching her just the way she likes. And then it's her turn to gasp.

His lips are once more trailing across her breasts as he licks and nibbles and teases the tender flesh. And his fingers are circling and stroking her clit. His hands are rough, causing extra friction, and she loves the way he touches her. She bucks against him involuntarily, and his hand moves with her.

As she climaxes, she kisses him, moaning into his lips. She sags against him, still breathing hard from the intensity of what has just rolled over her body.

They are both quiet for a time.

They re-settle their clothing, and adjust themselves so Katla is curled in Argis' lap, her head resting against his shoulder. He hugs her and rests his cheek upon her head, just enjoying being with her.

"Argis," Katla says eventually.

"Hmm?" His voice is a sleepy rumble.

"I love you."

"I love you, too." He replies, and kisses her.

They are content for now, but it's a long ride to Riften, and quite a bit more time to pass. They'll keep themselves entertained... somehow. Katla is sure of it.


End file.
